Development of a short cannabis problems questionnaire for adolescents in the community

The widespread and harmful use of cannabis amongst young people in the community has been well established. In order to assist in identifying young people at risk of harm for their cannabis use, the present paper documents the development of a short 12-item cannabis problems measure — the Cannabis Problems Questionnaire for Adolescents, Short form (CPQ-A-S). The CPQ-A-S was derived from the 27-item Cannabis Problems Questionnaire for Adolescents (CPQ-A) which had been shown in an earlier study to be a reliable and valid indicator of cannabis problems in adolescents. Tetrachoric correlations amongst items were examined and the more redundant items removed. Psychometrics of the shorter scale were then evaluated through factor analysis, and logistic regression used to demonstrate scale validity. This is the first short scale of cannabis problems derived for adolescents and it should prove a useful tool in both research and community applications.